#all of that happened within a decade lmao

[why-rock-look-tasty-if-no-eat]

*Ahem*

In order of the states I've lived in:

Pussy, Hell, Hell/Dick, Pussy, Bitch, Pussy, Fuuuuck, Bitch, Fuuuuck, Pussy, Fuuuuck, [unknown], Fuuuuck, Hell, [unknown], Hell

Most popular swear words by state in the US

[pochapal]

blowing a kiss to my mutuals who i have been sorely neglecting. on account of the Horrors.

[songmingisthighs]

Missing Out

group : ateez

pairing : dilf!mingi × reader

genre : smut

wc : 4.1 k

tw : mdni, explicit smut; daddy kink, teasing, dirty talk, age gap (mingi's like mayhaps at least a decade older, but both are still within legal limits), thigh riding, spitting, alcohol consumption (not to the point of being drunk, it's just for vibes and... spitting lmao),

a/n : frfr i hope he doesn't see this fic because God i would not be able to defend myself. tbh i planned on posting this on mingi's bitthday but i got shit happening to me. shit without my consent and I'm just trying to ride the stress like gandalf hopped up on cocaine riding smaug. so ykw i decided to post this on my birthday instead lmao. special thanks to @kitten4sannie for listening to me drop some ideas while i was on a road trip, i did some adjustments but it's still sexually frustrated dilf!mingi this fic is finally out so i hope you and everyone enjoy it <3

a/n/n : i take no responsibilities for any calf cramp that may or may not happen but alyssa, i still blame you for the great leg cramp at ass o'clock

a/n/n/n : my birthday sucks because it felt more like public service than anything but i got ticket to go to singapore again so i'll be reunited with my little brother and little sisters soon✌️ i'm raising money for my mental wellbeing which is so totally code for i'm trying to find a way to make my shituation better by making myself just the slightest bit happier after today's shenanadoodles

buy me coffee ?

After the day Mingi had, the cold drink in his hand felt like the reward he deserved. It was only then that Mingi realized why people always say that the Family Court is rough. Still, of course, it was extra rough for him because his ex-wife, the horned creature incarnate (a goat, not the devil), had dragged his name through the mud just to get the maximum alimony because she was a narcissistic bum with no life skill to fall back to as if Mingi was the one who told her to quit her job as a dental hygienist when they first got married.

During the mediation meetings and court proceedings, she took all of the potshots she could While no one took her seriously, it still pained Mingi because the more she and her lawyer attacked him, calling out all of his insecurities and questioning his character, the more obvious it was that Mingi had wasted 9 years of his life on this loser and he missed out on all of the marital milestones. The main sore spot was having kids. She argued that putting her body through pregnancy was out of the question because there were risks that could cause her body to look weird in the future and it's inhumane how a woman's body had to contort in such a way to accommodate another living being. But when her breast implant popped when she slammed the car door too hard, it was 'a normal occurrence'.

As much as his friend Yunho told him not to, Mingi couldn't help but wallow in the time he absolutely WASTED on the bitch only to be screwed over. The only good thing that came out of the divorce was the fact that he got out of it without having to pay alimony because his ex-wife had become too cocky with her cards. But still, Mingi had to give her the car, the savings account (that wasn't much compared to anything considering she had drained it to accommodate her filler addiction and alcohol dependency), and Tony Son, their personal trainer, the one thing Mingi could credit her because she had been the one who introduced him to the man who was able to sculpt his body to perfection.

"Is this seat taken?"

Mingi snapped his head to the side to see a woman younger than he, dressed in a tight-bodiced red sparkly dress that showed just enough cleavage for it to be classy rather than trashy and the A-line satin skirt stopped just three fingers width atop her knees. Slowly, Mingi nodded and gestured to the seat on his right side wordlessly. It wasn't until the woman flagged down the bartender and ordered her drink did Mingi questioned why she sat next to him when there were other seats in the bar.

"So, are you alone?" she asked, striking up a conversation with Mingi which honestly caught him by surprise because he had been told that he had a resting bitch face that doubled in intensity when he wasn't in the mood and he was doubling in his bad mood. "Yeah... I am, so..." his words allude to him wanting to be alone, but there was something about the person next to him that intrigued him so much so that his eyes seemed to be glued to her. Just the sight of her drinking her vodka cranberry made Mingi's eyes travel from her face down to her lap, watching the way she moved so gracefully. "So... You don't mind my asking why a man as handsome as you are would be sitting alone with a scowl on his face," she pointed out, forcing Mingi to consciously unfurrow his eyebrows and fake taking a sip of his drink, "I'm not scowling, I'm just tired and pissed off for wasting 9 years on a selfish bitch that deprived me of anything I want in life," he spat venomously, even the slight mention of his ex sent a really unpleasant taste in his mouth. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Anything I can do to help?" She pouted, inching closer to Mingi as somewhat of a signal. Noticing this, Mingi scoffed and shook his head but he still entertained the woman, "Got a time machine to help me undo the past 9 years?" "No, but maybe I can give you what your ex couldn't."

You couldn't help but bite your bottom lip when the look of shock on Mingi's face melted into intrigue. You had been watching him for an hour, sitting all alone, nursing his one drink as he toyed with his ring before chucking it into his breast pocket. Thank God he did because you were not about to approach a potentially spoken-for man. It took you a while to get substantial evidence of his status and it wasn't just because you were distracted by his plump ass in those slacks and the matching suit jacket and slightly unbuttoned black dress shirt didn't help your case.

"Little girl, I think I'm a bit too... Far for your reach," Mingi pointed out, raising an eyebrow at you as he wasn't sure that you knew what you were offering him. Mirroring him, you raised your eyebrow and shifted so that you faced him fully as you raised one leg and cross it over the other, successfully inviting Mingi to get a glimpse of more skin. "You don't know me or what I can do, sir," you smirked challengingly, now openly inviting him to poke you further.

You were delighted when you saw Mingi's jaw clench and throat bob after you called him sir. It was proof to you that Mingi had some sort of inclination of being in control and his little confession about not getting what he wanted from his ex-wife might be a glimpse of the kind of fun you could get from him. So without hesitation, you decided that you were going home with him.

Surprisingly, Mingi responded positively by leaning in to cup your chin and pull you close, just a wispy breath away from having your lips meet and you so desperately wanted to taste his because they just looked so damn juicy and plump. "You don't want to know all the things I've been deprived of... Baby." Your eyes darken and your legs crossed tighter to suppress the sudden arousal washing over your core, excited at the confirmation that Mingi was playing into your games just as you had wanted. All you needed to do was lock this down. So you let your hand lay on his thigh, squeezing it suggestively and enjoying the feeling of his muscle tensing underneath you each time your hand slid closer to his crotch to the point that your nail was scratching the inner side of his thigh just right. Despite being physically affected by you, Mingi still maintained eye-contact, daring you to poke his button just right.

"Yes, I do... Daddy."

In the blink of an eye, Mingi smashed his lips on you and all of the oxygen was knocked out of your lungs in one go. His lips were soft but the way he used them was rough yet calculated. You could taste the smoky whiskey on his tongue as he slipped it inside your mouth. Little did you know, he too, was enjoying the way you tasted. Your lip gloss had a sweetness to it that made him wonder if you're the type to plan things or if it was just a happy coincidence. He also took note of how you allowed him to lead you and the more he asserted himself onto you with every nibble of his lip and every caress of his tongue, showing that you're more on the submissive side and he likes it. A lot. The more you felt pleasure, the more you pleasured him back as evidenced by your hand rubbing against his raging boner.

Mingi smirked at the way you whimpered when he finally pulled away from you to slap a couple bills on the counter before he got off the stool, pulling you along with him. You wobbled slightly but Mingi immediately pulled you flush on his chest and despite having just made out with him, you found the gesture very hot. "Wanna go see if you can keep up with the list of things I missed out on?"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Mingi must be some kind of a business owner because no way he would have had a rather impressive office where you found yourself in. Well, on top of him on his couch, grinding your panty-less core against his thigh with your top down, allowing the older man to ogle at your tits as you tried to make yourself cum.

"Is that the best you can do?" Mingi taunted, circling his crystal glass which produced a tinkling sound from the ice in the drink he poured as soon as you reached his home. "Daddy, I want you to touch me," you whined but your hip was still relentlessly moving after making a big deal of how his thighs were so strong and you wanted to sit on them like a throne. So instead of just sitting, Mingi told you to make yourself useful and prep your pussy without his help and he wanted you to do it by riding his thigh. His thick, glorious thigh. "Don't you want to touch me, daddy?" you teased, cupping your boobs and tweaking your own nipples whilst throwing your head back, making a show out of it just to get Mingi to touch you. Sure, Mingi was intrigued, but he knew damn well that he was holding the reigns and he had to hold himself back from jumping at the opportunity to completely ravish you too soon. "I do, baby, but you're being a brat right now and refusing to listen to me. Had I wanted that, I would've stayed with my ex-wife." Your head snapped back up at the mention of his ex-wife and you glared at his smug smirking face, "You have me half naked on your lap and you still mentioned your ex-wife?" you gathered your skirt in your hand, exposing your cunt to Mingi's eyes and slowed your pace to a prolonged drag that left long, dark stain courtesy of your arousal.

Finding your petulance adorable, Mingi chuckled and pulled you in for a searing kiss with one hand cupping your chin and the other slapping you on the ass as if telling you to speed up your movement. "You're an adorable little doll and I'm gonna break you," he muttered against your lips before you could reply to him, Mingi tugged your hair back as he casually took a sip from his drink. The action made you yelp and Mingi swiftly leaned over and spit the drink into your mouth and clamped your jaw shut. "Swallow," he commanded and as you came down from being surprised, you stared into Mingi's eyes. At first, you only stared at him, feigning defiance just for fun and Mingi found that both intriguing and annoying. His grip moved to tightly grasp your jaw and he growled, "Swallow. It." He demanded in a stern voice that made your panties more damp as your cunt clench, leaving you unable to do anything more than whine and swallow the burning liquid. Mingi found you very mesmerizing even on an act as simple as you taking heed of his words. The stray spit and alcohol that trickled from the corners of your lips enhanced the glimmer of your smudged lipstick and lipgloss combo, turning Mingi on with how effortlessly sultry you looked. He was down and he was down bad. He wasn't even sure if he was down because Once the liquid was no longer there, you rolled out your tongue to proudly show your obedience and Mingi let out a shuddered breath seeing you just blindly following his orders like the good puppet you are.

"Fuck, you're gonna be the death of me."

In a flash, Mingi flipped you both around so that you were trapped underneath him with your head strategically on the armrest. The elevation allowed you to watch as Mingi dragged a hand down your body as if you were a work of art. "All this time... I was missing a lot all this time, that bitch took nine years out of me and gave me nothing," Mingi shuddered both in anger and in arousal. The contrasting thoughts between being so angry at his former partner and the excitement of being rewarded by being able to ravish you felt like waves crashing inside him. It was thrilling. It was exciting. It got his adrenaline pumping and God, he felt alive. "Poor baby," you purred all the while slowly popping the buttons of his dress shirt off to reveal the soft skin underneath, "You're so frustrated, It's a good thing I'm here now huh?"

You swung your leg up and used the tip of your toe to tilt Mingi's chin upwards maintaining a somewhat neutral expression but the twinkle in your eyes indicated clear intrigue. "Tell me all the things you want to do. What do you want most?" the question made Mingi roll his eyes back and he grabbed your leg by your ankle. "You nasty slut, you want to have an older cock so bad you're enticing me with empty promises, huh?" He mumbled against the skin of your leg, trailing his lips down from the heel and lower to your calf as his body followed down until he eventually stopped at the mid-section of your inner thigh. You helped him by flipping your skirt up, exposing your cunt wholly to him and slotting the leg you lifted on his shoulder, "Empty promises? I want to give you whatever you want daddy, and in order for me to be able to do that, I need to know what it is."

Thinking that he had nothing to lose anyway, Mingi smirked and decided to test you. "I want a baby," he stated, "I want to put my baby in you," he said oh so casually as if he hadn't had his fingers poking and prodding your cunt like they just belonged there. Truthfully speaking, Mingi was expecting you to push him off and ran away screaming because what kind of a hookup just casually dropped a bomb as big as he did?

But it seemed like Mingi's luck was turning around for the better because you replied by reaching forward to free his cock from his pants, trying as best as you could to suppress the surprise at Mingi's size (but failing as evidenced by the way your eyes bulged slightly and your tongue peeking out to lick your bottom lip in hunger) before you leaned back and opened your legs widely as an invitation for him. "Then do it, fuck me so hard and dumb and deep that I'd have no other choice but to have your baby," you smiled up at him. Mingi could only stare at you in shock initially, not really knowing what you meant until you whined and pulled him closer using the leg that was hooked on his shoulder. "Daddy, don't make me wait too long. Come on, put a baby in me!" you pleaded, cunt throbbing with eagerness to feel Mingi's cock stretching you now that you already caught a glimpse.

The shock melted away from Mingi's face and even as he was guiding his cock to your core, he was still carefully watching your face, not wanting to waste any twitch or shift in your face from feeling him but also he was trying to be careful in case you showed him any indication of regret or if you changed your mind. But the way you whined and rolled your hips so your wet cunt could meet his cock more gave him the green light.

"You dirty slut," Mingi grunted before he shoved his length inside you in one fluid movement. The accumulating arousal from you riding his thigh provided proper lubrication but his sheer size was not something you're used to so your body tensed up at the impact. "F-fuck, daddy, y-you-" "Am I tearing you apart, baby? Are you being split into two on daddy's fat cock?" he asked in faux worry that was just him being condescending towards you. But you don't care, you found it hot even when he talked down to you as if you were nothing but his plaything. "Yes, yes, daddy, I'm being split open on your cock but I love it! I love it so much!" you moaned, hands clawing at his skin, causing red streaks to appear from the pressure of your nails, "Fuck, I want more!"

With that, Mingi pushed your legs up by your thighs, exposing more of your lower half to him. "Be daddy's good girl and hold these open, I wanna see your pussy taking my cock raw," he hissed, eyes zeroing on the way your puffy lips split open to accommodate his size. Carefully, as if assessing a great piece of art, Mingi watched attentively The view almost brought tears to his eyes but he channeled the somewhat endearing moment into fucking you stupid into the mattress.

Each drag of Mingi's cock felt like fire against your inner walls. Although there was a slight discomfort with each movement, the added pleasure of being filled like you had never before made you addicted.

If you thought you were enjoying yourself, Mingi was very close to combusting and he was trying his best to not cum too soon as he didn't wanna be branded as the geezer who came too early. But he couldn't help it, not with the way both his ego and his cock were stroked. It was as if you were made for him and he felt that the moment he entered your sopping cunt. So Mingi shifted his focus to you instead, working to get you to cum first.

"Come on baby, cum for daddy. I need you to cum first so you'd be ripe and open for me to fill you up," Mingi huffed, pressing his pointy nose against the junction of your neck that sent tingles down your spine, "We need to do our best to make sure that you'd be good and pregnant, right?" The weight of his words caused your head to spin as the thought of him filling you full for his own pleasure filled your mind. "Yes, yes daddy, make me cum please," you whined into his ears, your body reacting almost automatically by rolling your hips against his own to match his speed and desire. Mingi growled hungrily and his pace quickened significantly as the impact got harder. You were sure that after this your ass would be different shades of red and blue but you couldn't care less. Especially if Mingi wanted to do more rounds with you, you'd gladly wear the bruises like a badge of honor.

"Fuck, you're so hot like this, you're so hot when you're willing and submissive for me," Mingi grunted, even verging on whining into your ears because you just felt so good to him but he held firm, "Are you close, baby? Are you cumming soon?" Lucky for him, you nodded hurriedly, confirming that you were close. Your brain had been marinating in the dizzying arousal that it was embarrassingly quick for you to nearly reach your climax in a rather short time. However, your response was deemed lacking to Mingi who wanted to hear a verbal response from you. Mingi was quick to slap you hard on your left tit as a punishment, feeling the need to chastise you for simplifying your response.

The words died on Mingi's tongue and his hips sharply halted to a stop when he saw you yelp and shudder before coming completely undone underneath him, writhing pathetically as your nails grazed his skin, leaving red streaks for Mingi to show off for days on end. His eyes darken when he saw tears pooled in your own eyes before dropping, creating the illusion of your eyes sparkling which served a rather complex combination of innocence and sinful. "M-M- Daddy," you whimpered in almost a hushed tone, barely comprehensible but to Mingi the sound was thunderous in Mingi's ears, ringing, because his baby girl needed him. His baby girl wanted him. His baby girl who's willing to give him anything he could ask for was longing for him. So who is he to deny you?

Seeing you in such a vulnerable state seemed to unlock something primal in Mingi because while you were reeling down from your orgasm, Mingi was instead put into some sort of a trance. His tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip, slightly hoping that he could taste your sweetness in the air, and his hips restarted with a pace so hard and quick, for a moment you forgot that Mingi was a human.

The pleasure from your orgasm tripled with the additional friction continuously given by Mingi whose head was flooded with the thought of truly possibly getting you pregnant from this first time. Not that he was planning on only fucking you once, not after he felt how good you made him feel both emotionally and physically. He was planning to pamper you to death and maybe that was the sexually frustrated side in him but he didn't care, he didn't care how crazy he was because you were the one who made him crazy.

The sound of hips snapping together in a rhythm accompanied by your drunk-like moans sounded like a symphony in Mingi's ears. "F-fuck baby, I'm gonna fill you up now," Mingi grunted, his eyes closing and his forehead dropping to your shoulder, "I'm gonna fill you up with my seed to the brim and you're gonna be a good girl and keep it all in so my baby can grow safely inside of you, okay?" He whispered so intimately against your shoulder that both your lips and cunt wept. You wouldn't be surprised if there was a pool underneath you after you were done and you won't hesitate to ask for more. "Cum, daddy. Cum inside me. Fill me up so hard and full like you promised me!" You whined, your hands snaking around his shoulders to hold tight as the overstimulation caused a tingling pain that made your toes curl while Mingi was getting such a high from his ego being fed.

"Fuck, baby girl, this is it, I'm gonna put my baby in you!" Mingi grunted and thrusted, once, twice, thrice, before his hips stuttered and you felt a gush of warmth spilling deep inside your cunt. The physical feeling of being filled up made your eyes roll into your head and the realization of what just happened made you blush as if you weren't whoring for his cock not 10 minutes ago.

As Mingi slowly came down from his high, his mind cleared up and he was able to pepper kisses from your shoulders, up your neck, along your jawline, and then gently all over your face. The contrast of the sweetness of the older man and the nasty act you both just did made you suddenly turn all giggly and shy. "Aww, come on, are you trying to get away from me?" Mingi smirked, trying to chase another kiss from your lips but you kept dodging him, "That's pretty absurd considering I still have my cock inside of you, plugging you full." Your eyes widened at the vulgarity of his chosen words and you couldn't help but smack him on the shoulder but fail to hold back a giggle, "Don't say it like that!" "Like what? Like the way it is?" Mingi teased, pushing himself up to trail a finger on your stomach which made your breath hitch and your muscle to tense, "I need to make sure you really do get pregnant so you can give me my baby just like I wanted," his voice trailed as his fingers drew patterns on your skin almost lovingly and the nonsensical side of you wanted to believe that he was showing his affection to you. You figured that there was only one way to find out.

Without missing a beat, you took his finger that was tracing your skin into your mouth and start licking around as if it was a lollipop, effectively causing Mingi's attention to shift to your face and his cock to twitch inside you. "Who said we're only gonna try this once, daddy? You're gonna fuck me as much as you like until I'm good and pregnant."

The smirk that bloomed on Mingi's face was devilish and almost menacing, showing his genuine intention to get wamhat he wanted.

"I hope you'd never ask. I'm gonna fuck you all night long and you're gonna be a good girl and take it all with no complaint."

As if you'd say no.

network :

@cultofdionysusnet @sandsofire @kflixnet @pirateeznet

permalist :

@kodzukein @phenomenalgirl9 @skzatzloveismonsterous @memorymonster @surveilenceysystem @dreamlesswonder86 @maddiebabyxoxo @imababywolf @do-you-actually-care @marievllr-abg @ilsedingsx @wasteitonserendipity @bbymatz @noonaishere @honeyhwaaa @ateezourstars @yoonjunshi @yoongiigolden @camillelafaye @charreddonuts @kpopnightingale @starryunho @atinct @mirror-juliet @hyuckilstan @jayb17 @kpoplover718 @haatohwa @x-bluee @erinaimeexx @blackb3ll @mingiholic @itasluv @vampcharxter @meowmeowminnie @marvelous-llama @kawennote09 @hongjoong-lovebot @stopeatread

[empty-movement]

Welcome to Something Eternal: A Website Forum in 2023 wtf lmao

It's 2023, and a single belligerent rich guy destroyed one of the primary focal points of uh...global communication. Tumblr is, shockingly, kinda thriving despite the abuse it gets from its owners, but that I will call the iconic refusal of Tumblr users to let Tumblr get in the way of their using Tumblr. Reddit killed its API, removing the functionality of mobile apps that made it remotely readable (rip rif.) Discord, our current primary hangout, has made countless strange choices lately that indicate it has reached the summit of its usability and functionality, and can only decline from here as changes get made to prepare for shareholders. (NOTE: WROTE THIS POST BEFORE THEIR MOBILE "REDESIGN" LMAO)

The enshittification is intense, and it's coming from every direction. Social media platforms that felt like permanent institutions are instead slowly going to let fall fallow incredible amounts of history, works of art, thought, and fandoms. It kinda sucks!

A couple years ago, I posted about a new plan with a new domain, to focus on the archiving of media content, as I saw that to be the fatal weakness of the current ways the internet and fandoms work. Much has happened since to convince me to alter the direction of those efforts, though not abandon them entirely.

Long story short? We are launching a fucking website forum. In 2023.

If you remember In the Rose Garden, much about Something Eternal will be familiar. But this has been a year in the making, and in many ways it's far more ambitious than IRG was. We have put money on this. The forum is running on the same software major IT and technology businesses use, because I don't want the software to age out of usability within five years. It has an attached gallery system for me to post content to, including the Chiho Saito art collection. It has a profile post system that everyone already on the forum has decided is kinda like mini Twitter? But it is, fundamentally, a website forum, owned and run and moderated by us. We are not web devs. But we have run a website on pure spite and headbutting code for over twenty years, and we have over a decade of experience maintaining social spaces online, both on the OG forum, and on our Discord. Better skilled people with far more time than we have can and will build incredible alternatives to what is collapsing around us. But they're not in the room right now. We are. And you know what? Maybe it's time to return to a clunkier, slower moving, more conversation focused platform.

You're not joining a social media platform with the full polish of dozens of devs and automated moderation. Things might break, and I might need time to fix them. The emojis and such are still a work in progress. Because e-mails no longer route in reasonable normal ways, the sign-up process instead happens within the software, and has to be approved by mods. Design and structure elements may change. Etc. The point being, that the forum isn't finished, but it is at a place where I feel like I can present it to people, and it's people I need to help direct what functions and things will be in this space. You all will shape its norms, its traditions, its options...choices I could try to make now, but really...they're for us to create as a group! But the important stuff? That's there. Now let's drive this baby off the damn lot already!

Come! Join us!!

PS. As always, TERFs and Nazis need not apply.

[milksockets]

why scan?

scanning is something i've done for probably about 12 years now (i'm ancient, for this site), with varying degrees of regularity, intensity, etc. it has ratcheted up since the dawn of 2023, though, which begs the question: why? why put so much time into what could not-wrongly be considered a passive activity, hunched over a piece of clunky machinery with the express purpose of preserving others' creations? the answers are several, and fascinating (not really).

i am a [sober] drug addict. anything i pursue, consume, create--more often than not--ends up taking on addictive qualities. i'll eat the same specific food item for a month, then never want to see, let alone taste it, again. i'll listen to one song on repeat for days until i'd rather hear nails on a chalkboard than have it shuffle on and assault my ears. one of the reasons that my scanning has increased in volume recently is that i acquired library cards to the 3 nyc library systems: nypl, brooklyn, and queens. as soon as i was able to, i pillaged + plundered those fine centers of learning, leaving any given library with as many hefty scan-worthy books as i could [barely] carry. here, finally, was a *free* way of obtaining more + more + more visual media to consume.

2023 saw me get my first legal, full-time job. as such, my adjusting to that hellish reality resulted in a steep decline in my own personal creative output. collaging, writing, and rapping all fell to the wayside as i slowly acclimated to a life of work that almost everyone else my age has known for over a decade is generally unbearable + detrimental to the maintenance of outside pursuits. in times of famine within my own artistic harvest, scanning, archiving, and sharing others' work is a means of feeling as though i am still contributing to the global oeuvre.

there’s an element of losing my mental self in a series of physical motions that becomes almost automatic after some time. “zoning out” is not something endemic to my daily life; if anything, i���m almost always too zoned in. relief is necessary.  especially considering the shitshow this past year has been in terms of my personal life.

i am a product of capitalism’s cultivating a craving for constant consumption. 

it seems that visual content is only going to continue to get more + more uninspired. has everything been done? did social media ruin it all? in any case, i feel a need to document the past. to a degree, it’s my version of doomsday prepping. (god forbid books go extinct altogether.) 

i have always gravitated towards solitary activities. this topic could be a thesis in its own right.

i thrive on external validation. this reliance is something i’ve improved upon over the past several years, but it hasn’t been altogether extinguished. even though the materials i scan are not of my own creation, i nevertheless feel a vague pride in showcasing them. occasional appreciation thereof satisfies this fixation on others’ attention, albeit in a diluted form. 

i am fortunate to live in a city bursting to the gills with cultural institutions. i am also lucky enough to have some disposable income that can be directed toward fulfilling my ravenous desire for visual media. 

((i keep getting messages about the specifics of my scanner + "process":

i have a cheap ass hp envy 6055e and i just use the software it comes with.

there's nothing special or fancy happening here, and i could definitely invest in a better and/or a large format scanner, etc. but i really just don't care enough and it's not like i'm getting paid for this lmao))

[dfastback68]

Here’s some more post-canon Mihawk’s Home for Displaced Pirates, which continues to be very funny to me, except this time not from the POV of a Displaced Pirate. Now that I’ve got a boyfriend for King, I can throw in Katakuri. If I write more of this (as in, King and Katakuri actually interacting lmao) maybe I can consider it a whole fic and post it on AO3. Until then, please enjoy Katakuri getting flustered by the most beautiful man he’s ever seen under the cut 😊

—

Having been born and raised in the New World, Katakuri hasn’t spent much time in Paradise, or any of the other four seas. He’s certainly made it his business to understand the geography of the rest of the world, and this has served him well in the years since he took stewardship of Totto Land. What the now-defunct World Government once considered a lawless operation is now the largest global exporter of flour and grain. They’d had the infrastructure; once Mama’s appetite was out of the equation, they were well primed to fill a considerable vacuum in world trade.

Not that it had been an entirely seamless transition. Their territories had suffered not just attacks from other pirates and the Navy, but significant flooding as well. Komugi had come out unscathed, but the smaller, low lying islands were not as lucky. Cacao Island took near catastrophic damage, and they lost almost all of their cocoa crop. What survived continues to struggle, and a number of rare strains are lost to them. They may be able to recover or replicate some of them, but the fruition of that process won’t happen in his lifetime.

Still, laying down the groundwork for full recovery is half of his job, and he takes it seriously. Despite the losses, there is some hope thanks to the meticulous record keeping of his brother, Mont-d’Or. Because of that, he’s been able to track down numerous exports and trades over the decades. There’s a particular type of cocoa tree they lost to the flooding, and their records show six of them were purchased and transported out of their territory within the last decade.

The actual receipt was harder to find, but ultimately he found the customer: Dracule Mihawk, located on Kuraigana Island. It’s lucky enough that Hawkeyes still lives there, moreso that he confirmed the trees are intact, and a mercy that he’s agreed to let Katakuri even come look at them. He hadn’t sounded thrilled about the entire affair, but Katakuri thinks that’s just how he normally sounds.

Kuraigana is a gloomy, dark island that fits the general aesthetic and demeanor of Hawkeyes. Katakuri understands the original kingdom here fell to ruin, and Hawkeyes had simply taken up roost. Now the castle grounds are meticulously kept, and the surrounding land is dense pine forests and freshwater lakes. The rest is sprawling farmland, both food and botanicals, tended by a curious army of monkeys.

He’s impressed. It takes a lot of work to achieve this sort of operation. Given the misty, cloudy nature of the island, there’s a lot to take into consideration to get anything to bloom around here.

The cocoa trees are in good company, though, growing in the dappled shade of towering oak trees. They’re mature, but Kakakuri still has to bend to one knee to inspect them. The leaves are vibrant and healthy, and the earth is rich and loomy, perfect for their roots. Hawkeyes, who barely comes up to his knees when he’s standing, is next to him.

“I can pay,” Katakuri says. “Extraction, transport and delivery.”

Mihawk frowns. “I was unaware you wanted the entire tree.”

Katakuri sighs. “We’re not going to get a lot of production out of just six trees. Back home, we can clone and reproduce them. Replenish the strain.”

“I understand that,” Mihawk says. “But they’re not mine to trade away. You’ll have to speak with Perona.”

This surprises Katakuri. He’d assumed everything here was under the purview of Mihawk himself. He’s not familiar with Perona’s name.

They walk back towards the castle. He keeps his pace slow to match Mihawk’s, which gives him time to admire the scenery. Everything about this place has been restored beautifully; cobblestone walkways, brick archways and wrought iron gates and trellises heavy with blooming vines. In the context of the island’s inherent gloom and mist, it makes for a very serene, peaceful landscape.

His pace slows when they pass an adjacent courtyard. Through the stone moon gate is a garden full of every color and variety of hydrangea, every one of them in full bloom. The enormous blossoms create a riot of pastels and whites and greens, woven around statuary and a bubbling water feature. Katakuri stops dead in his tracks when among all that beauty sits an angel.

He isn’t an angel, of course, but Katakuri knows who it is: King the Wildfire, once right hand man to Kaido and a rival to his own position among pirate crews. Katakuri has never seen him unmasked in person. After Kaido’s fall and King’s escape from the World Government, his bounty had been reissued and doubled, if only because the thought of a lunarian on the loose has been an affront to the Navy. His new bounty had been blurry, poorly angled, but obvious enough.

The picture didn’t do him justice at all. He’s stunningly handsome, the picture of masculine beauty even while he just sits there, head bent slightly as he reads from the book in his lap. He’s traded in the studded and spiked leather for jeans and breezy, cream colored shirt that’s open down nearly to his navel. It’s a perfect contrast against his dark skin, same as his white hair, which falls in a long braid over one shoulder. His wings are tucked close, black feathers glossy, nearly iridescent, though the right one is half gone.

King pauses halfway through turning the page of his book and looks up, red eyes landing directly on Katakuri, who immediately loses his nerve. Face blazing as he ducks his chin deeper into his scarf, he hurries to leave, catching up to Mihawk in only a few long strides. He can feel King’s piercing gaze on him until he’s out of his line of sight. His heart is pounding.

Mihawk doesn’t appear to have noticed anything amiss, but he does say: “I assume you recall the rules about fighting here?”

“I have no quarrel with him,” Katakuri says, a little too quickly. Mihawk has misunderstood his staring, which is a relief.

“Perona will be back later tonight. In time for dinner, at least,” Mihawk continues. “You’re welcome to join us.”

He hadn’t wanted to spend more than a day here, but he also hadn’t planned on needing to negotiate with anyone except Mihawk himself.

When he hesitates, Mihawk arches one brow, and says: “Alber will be there.”

Alber. Of course King isn’t his real name. And if that’s his given name, given so freely by Mihawk, what else can be learned about such an enigmatic figure? It’s likely the only chance he’ll ever get. He’s not even thinking about the cocoa trees anymore.

A bit belatedly, he also realizes Mihawk had not misunderstood his staring at all. He feels his face burn hot again. He should have known. Their mastery of Observation Haki might manifest differently, but they weren’t considered the best for nothing.

“If it’s no trouble,” he says, regretting it almost immediately. Agreeing to dinner is the same as eating in front of strangers, something he’s spent most of his life carefully avoiding. He’s not sure how he’ll pull it off without offending the host.

”None whatsoever,” Mihawk says. They stop at the doors. “Feel free to explore the grounds. Don’t mind the ghosts.”

Hawkeyes disappears inside before Katakuri can ask: what ghosts? Then he decides it’s probably a joke, judging by the look of this place. Given free reign, he looks back towards where the courtyard is, frozen to the spot with indecision. Eventually, he heads back towards the docks, to let the crew know they’ll be staying the night, at the very least.

He has no idea if he’ll leave with the trees by this time tomorrow, or any kind of agreement. It should be the first and only thing on his mind.

Instead, as he walks the path down to the docks, shiny cobblestone bordered by blooming rows of lavender, his thoughts circle back to a lunarian surrounded by hydrangeas.

[doshmanziari]

I seem to be in the spirit of dunking on the most irritating contingent of the so-called Souls community (i.e., "Souls veterans"). Yesterday, I did a YouTube search for Dark Souls 2, and these are the first results I got. Guys: this is crazy. Dark Souls 2 has been stuck in a discursive loop for a literal full decade and it pretty much all has to do with Matthewmatosis putting out a critique within the first month or two of the game's release. No long-form analysis since has been able or willing to escape the vortex of "Is it GOOD or NOT GOOD (relative to Dark Souls, my Favorite Game of All of the Times)???" We just keep getting hours-long meandering "hot takes" about how it's either "better" or "worse" than some collective mentality thinks it is.

This pseudo-critical loop has been on my mind because what is also the most irritating vocal contingent of Elden Ring's playerbase has been doing nothing except recycling the half-assed observations deriving from Joseph Anderson's equally premature word-vomit. I've been looking through various videos having to do with certain bosses for Elden Ring's DLC, and one of the most persistent comments is "lmao trash boss with nearly unavoidable attacks." Sorry, guys: there is no such thing as "nearly unavoidable"; either the attack is avoidable, or it isn't, and it's up to you to clear the gap if it is. And this was the whole thing about Anderson's critique -- framing the game in a way that was coming from the perspective of someone who's mad that they can't do exactly what they did against Ornstein and Smough to first-time a brand new boss, and, instead of trying to figure out what's happening, decides that the game is exclusively for a new class of Übermensch.

I dunno, man. I'm tired of this framework for new media criticism: bloated, disorganized videos responding to the item in question as soon as it hits, and petrifying the general interpretative mentality of the people doing most of the opining, because a majority of the audience is just waiting for an authority figure to make up their mind for them in a way that's convenient to their prejudices. Folks nowadays might rightly wonder what import or responsibility the critic has to play anymore; but I'd say that these videos are excellent examples of fairly powerful criticism which has been exceeding textual norms for a while, and has been poisoning various wells in a way that mostly can't be dealt with because of the convoluted format and the exceptional power of group-think on online spaces.

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The new trilogy means we finally got official French translations of the fifth and sixth games (the fourth already had one) so I did my thing and played through them, since they're always a lot of fun. Here are some things about French Dual Destinies I thought you might like to know:

Yes, it's set in France as per usual. They are all French people who live in Paris. And yes, that means that in this universe there is a Japanese village themed around yokai within throwing distance of Paris.

Athena lived in America in this version, and therefore peppers her speech with English and Spanish. My favourite unhinged franglais line was "let's get au travail" which I will be using from now on because it's hilarious

Many characters got French pun names again. Simon's name is "Jack Lamenoire" -- Jack, because the French version of Simon Says uses the name Jack/Jacques, and "lame noire" means "black blade". (Also he's not British or anything in this version, he just speaks in somewhat old-timey French.)

He has multiple nicknames for the judge that are all slight variations of "Your Baldness". He doesn't do that "-dono" suffix thing but he does refer to Phoenix in particular as "Maître Wright".

...I don't like pointing out things I didn't like buuuuuut his voice is a huge downgrade. Actually, to be honest, I don't like the new French voices that much in general... idk man they just don't sound very enthusiastic...

Filch's name is "Arsène Loupet", reference to the famous fictional thief Arsène Lupin, which I thought was pretty cool! (Herlock Sholmes was also a reference to that series too btw!)

Athena and Apollo use informal pronouns for each other pretty much from the get-go, but there have been some changes from the previous games: Phoenix now uses the informal "tu" for Apollo (and Athena) whereas in the prev game he didn't, Pearl now uses "tu" for Phoenix as well, and Klavier uses "tu" for Apollo now (but Apollo still calls him the formal "vous" lmao)

SPEAKING OF... SPEAKING OF. The French localisation continues to utterly baffle me when it comes to Klavier (or Konrad as he's called in French). No listen, liSTEN. In the previous game he was specifically stated to be English and did his law exams in England and dropped English words into his speech (and this is still the case in the trilogy version, I checked). But now?? They seem to have gone back on it and in this game he says he's German again, like the in English translation??? But he's still dropping English words into his speech randomly????? Look I already went through the five stages of grief when I found out they'd english-ified him, I made my peace with it, and NOW they change it???????

God and his new French voice sucks too (his old one was actually good)... what have they done to you my poor boy, was making you English not bad enough T_T Oh and he and Athena didn't even get their little language club moment where they both start speaking in the same foreign language?? Like, that just straight-up didn't happen here and I had been waiting for it aauuugh it's cool it's fine it's cool i'm okay i'm--

True to Dual Destinies fashion, there are still typos. In an emotional moment, Apollo took a leave of asbence from the office. Not absence. Asbence.

I can't put my finger on it but Robin's coming out scene felt more... respectful in French? The English translation was done over a decade ago so it feels somewhat dated, maybe that's why... I obviously don't know if she was purposely written to be a trans girl but she very much comes across that way, and it feels like the French translators were aware of that interpretation and took it into account, idk maybe it's just me

THEY GOT RID OF MY FAVOURITE LINE. THE FORESHADOWEY ONE WHERE SIMON TELLS ATHENA THAT THE PERSON SHE WANTS TO SAVE MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD DOESN'T DESIRE HER DEFENCE, AND HE'S CLEARLY TALKING ABOUT HIMSELF. THE FRENCH MADE HIM SAY SOMETHING ELSE WAY LESS COOL. I don't wanna be like "FRENCH TURNABOUT ACADEMY IS DEAD TO ME" because most of it was awesome, but man these occasional things made me wanna flip tables

Cosmic Turnabout and Turnabout for Tomorrow were great in French though, so there's that. Clay's French name is "Pierre" which worked surprisingly well because it means stone or rock, and the moon rock was also called that, so like, the phantom had to kill Pierre in order to get the pierre... idk it worked and it was cool

Simon and Athena switch to using informal pronouns for each other very near the end of the game, in the scene where they work together to psychologically mess with the phantom. It's around the time when they start openly calling each other by first name since everyone knows now that they're old friends.

Phoenix and Edgeworth also occasionally refer to each other by first name in this game, which threw me off completely. (Reminder that Edgeworth's French name is "Benjamin Hunter". Just picture Phoenix standing in front of Edgeworth and calling him BENJAMIN. Now you understand how absolutely bizarre it felt.)

Here's the entirety of The Dissin' of Phoenix Wright in French

[genericpuff]

1. Have you read Circe by Madeline Miller + Song of Achilles ~ if you have what are your thoughts

2. In the original what was your favorite male character drawn out (mine was Hermes only bc I found him hot😓)

3. How long do you think it’ll take you to ‘finish’ your story, like do you have a set date: 2026,2027, even 2030🙈🙈

4. What’s your backstory on tattooing and art, was this your initial plan

5. Fave girl character, (mine is Minthe only bc she reminds me of my younger self since I seemed to only choose realtionships where I get here)

thank youuu

ahaha so many questions! I'll answer them as concisely as I can :>

1.) Song of Achilles is on my shelf, I've been meaning to read it all but I haven't been able to make time for it, I might try and do so before the new year! I've definitely heard great things :>

2.) Hephaestus! He gives me such older brother vibes, he just seems like a really chill and snuggly guy LOL Only complaint about his character design is the fact that he's constantly using running blades (sure they look cool but they're not practical for casual wear, you're supposed to use them for, y'know... running lmao) but that's really it, I think his arc with Aphrodite in S3 was poorly written tbh especially with how rushed it was, but overall not the worst treatment out of the cast.

3.) Definitely don't want it to take until 2030 LMAO It's gonna depend on a few variables, including update schedule (I'd really like to get back to posting once a week again like I used to but I don't think it's gonna be possible for a little while u.u""") and how long the final scripts come out to be. Ideally though I'd like it to be wrapped up within another year or two. This definitely isn't one of those "work on it indefinitely" type projects, I have an end goal in mind and I don't want it to take over half a decade like my last comic project did LOL

4.) Never expected to wind up making Rekindled or in tattooing. I'm kind of a "fall into it" type person, I do what feels right in the moment even if it's not what I initially planned for (within reason, of course! I've learned to sit on new ideas and plans for a bit before pursuing them to ensure I'm actually into them before diving in lol it helps me avoid the impulsive ADHD-fueled decisions 😆). I sort of had a plan for myself back in primary and high school - I wanted to become a video game concept artist, but over time as I got into making comics and after I graduated college, it just never really happened. It's never too late, of course, but right now I'm having a lot of fun tattooing and making comics in my free time ! I think I'd still be making comics even if I ended up in game dev, it satisfies my storytelling side haha

5.) If you mean specifically LO, yeah, Minthe here too. Which is wild because I remember when I was still a huge fan of the comic and was on the "fuck Minthe!" train. Now that I've explored the comic with a more critical eye, I sympathize with her way more and I really hope she had gotten a more satisfying conclusion. Still, she got away from Hades and Persephone's nonsense so that's better than nothing LMAO but I definitely want to explore her side more in Rekindled as the story unfolds, I have some fun plans for her <3

[winterchimez]

Criminal | Lee Juyeon

summary: you love Lee Juyeon with all of your heart, and you are willing to do anything for him, even if he is the infamous criminal the city has been desperately trying to place back behind closed bars for years.

pairing: criminal Juyeon x agent f!reader

genre: angst, crime, slight fluff

warnings: violence, minor character deaths, blood, mentions of weapons (guns, snipers, blades, etc.), kissing

word count: 3,380

a/n: here is the 2nd entry from my 100 followers event and this was requested by my love @cloverdaisies 💚 i can't tell you how happy i was when you requested a criminal romance fic (lmao i prob just like writing crime a bit too much) & hope you'll love this my dearest clo 🫶🏻

The sounds of the sirens coming from the dozens of police cars were what filled the city tonight. 

It has happened again. 

For five years, the city has been haunted by the infamous criminal himself, The Stealer, who is notably one of the most infamous thieves the city has ever had for the past few decades. 

Nobody really knew what his motive was or even his true identity. All the public knew was that he had begun his spree, going from building to building to steal the most valued treasures or jewellery the country has kept safe behind those sturdy vaults with heavy security. None has ever succeeded in breaking through the tight security, that was until The Stealer came into the picture. However, the man himself has never harmed anyone, as his motive was just stealing the valued items while leaving no trails behind. 

That was until he was finally caught red-handed by one of the rookie agents during the infamous Royal Bank Heist case that happened last summer. 

Obviously, the public finally rejoiced at the fact that the infamous criminal that had been lurking in the shadows for long enough had finally been put behind bars, and everyone could return back to their normal daily routine again.

But their happiness was not to last for long, for The Stealer himself broke free while he was in captivity and was placed in one of the vehicles where he was supposed to be transported back to the local police station. 

And because it was you who helped the now infamous criminal to break free. 

Why have you done that months ago? When the law enforcement has been desperately trying to put this madman behind bars once and for all?

There was only one answer.

Because the infamous The Stealer himself was Lee Juyeon, your childhood best friend whom you grew up with and had a crush on for the longest time.

You and Juyeon go all the way back in middle school, where you and your family had just recently moved from the outskirts of Busan to Gwangju. After settling down for a short while, it didn’t take long for your parents to enroll you in one of the infamous institutes at the time so that you could continue with your education. 

And that was where you met your crush and best friend, Lee Juyeon.

As you stepped into the classroom to introduce yourself, you felt all sorts of negative emotions ranging from fear to anxiety. None of your classmates really paid much attention to you and even treated you like a nobody. But that wasn’t the case with Juyeon. The boy immediately welcomed you to sit right next to him, being one of the only empty seats that were still available at the time. Next thing you knew, you both immediately hit off as good friends within a few days.

Juyeon was definitely one of the biggest extroverts you’ve ever met in your lifetime. He would always initiate a conversation with you in any situation you may be in and even bring you along to meet his group of friends every day after classes. 

What’s more, that boy was really into basketball, so much so that he eventually secured a permanent role of being one of the active players for the school team, and this went on even until high school. Each time he would drag you to watch his practice match and to his games, which, quite frankly, you felt that it was a chore at the beginning. But as you slowly opened yourself up more to him, you eventually began enjoying these little so-called “dates” since it was where you get to see Juyeon’s skills up close. 

And it was when you started to develop a crush on him.

The way how he was so passionate about the sport he loves dearly, up to how you can always witness his good reflexes and muscles up close? You’d be lying to yourself if they did not make you drool whenever you see them in person. Not to mention all of the instances where he turns in your direction to give you a smile or sometimes a wink if you were lucky enough. Oh, how you were the luckiest girl alive. 

Things went on till the end of high school, where you both graduated with distinction and made both of your families proud. Eventually, you both got into your desired university, Seoul National University, to further pursue your career. Juyeon went in with a sports scholarship and was determined to dedicate his life fully to basketball, while you went ahead with criminology as you followed your father’s footsteps. 

That was until the fall of your first year of university. 

Word spread quickly throughout the campus and eventually to the neighbourhood on how Juyeon’s parents were mysteriously murdered in the comforts of their home while he was out running some errands. The sight that greeted Juyeon as he came back was something that will forever be implanted deep within his mind, never to be forgotten. 

Ever since then, Juyeon began to distance himself from everyone, even you. After the semester ended, he was nowhere to be seen again. 

It was as if he had mysteriously disappeared from the town itself, leaving little to no traces behind of where he might be. You and everyone tried your very best to contact him in all sorts of ways possible, but every single time there was no response at all. Eventually, everyone began to move on with their lives and forget that he had ever existed. 

Except for you.

For years you have continuously tried to reach back out to him by writing him letters addressed to his former residence in both Seoul and Gwangju. It did not matter if you did not receive a reply, for you’d figured if one day he were to appear in front of you again, those letters will surely reach him someday. 

This went on even until you graduated from university and landed a role as an undercover agent under the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Almost immediately, when you were assigned to a specific department, you were made aware of the series of robbery crime sprees that have happened within the city for the past several months. 

During a couple of your first missions, you and your team somewhat briefly came across The Stealer himself but failed each time to capture the man as he was too quick and was always up for a challenge with you and your fellow agents from the bureau. 

That was until your second year of working as an undercover agent, and you actually came face-to-face with The Stealer during a stand-off on one of your missions. And it was there you realised it was your crush and best friend you have desperately tried to contact for years. 

He removed his mask as he revealed his identity to you since you both were alone at that time, and no words could describe how you felt during that tense moment. Your heart finally felt at ease knowing the person you have been desperately trying to contact has finally re-emerged back in front of you and knowing that he was still alive and sound. But your other half knew that he was now a wanted criminal and is worth thousands of dollars to put him behind bars. 

Eventually, you handcuffed the male and brought him down to your colleagues, who desperately awaited your return at the lower ground. Juyeon did not resist much, as he allowed the rest of the agents to escort him into one of the transport vans to take him back down to the station. 

At that time, you were the driver and were supposed to make sure that both the fugitive and the rest of the agents returned back safe and sound to the bureau. But what they did not know was that you had other plans in your mind. 

You were going to help Juyeon escape. 

So that was what you did. You purposely lost control of the wheel and drove the vehicle right into a tree that was situated close to the highway, and immediately all of the agents blacked out from the sudden impact. You and Juyeon, on the other hand, only sustained minor injuries. 

Not wasting a second, you immediately helped Juyeon to get out of the vehicle and urged him to make a quick escape now since there were only a few seconds of opening before the remaining vehicles that were following behind yours would arrive at the crash site. 

Your friend was definitely conflicted, but you quickly shoved the man into the woods and urged him to keep running and not look back. You could tell that at that time, tears had formed in his eyes, and he was desperately trying to tell you something. Perhaps the reason why he was gone for such a long time, or even the motive as to why he began his spree all these years. 

But there was no time. As the sounds of the sirens grew louder, he quickly turned his heel toward the deep dark woods, quickly muttering a simple “thank you” before disappearing into the night. 

With that, you were left behind to deal with the mess you have created, but internally you had already prepared yourself to do so when you had plotted out this whole escape getaway for your friend. 

I hope I won’t be seeing you again, Juyeon. 

Turns out you were wrong, and your friend has seemingly decided to make his comeback tonight after three years since his escape. 

The FBI was immediately alerted by the local police stations once news got out that he was back, breaking into the infamous Lotte Hotel Seoul, where the current most prized jewellery was kept safe within the vaults in the basement.

However, knowing The Stealer and how he has managed to break through even the tightest security from past experiences, the bureau knew that they were not taking chances and immediately hopped into action right away. 

Since The Stealer has re-emerged after going into hiding for a year, you knew that your superiors would not take failure as an option this time. Hence, all of you agents were equipped with the latest weapons and technology that the bureau has upgraded, and within minutes all of you were out the door, hopping into your vehicles and heading to the designated location. 

As you drove your way to the infamous hotel, the only thing that was on your mind was how the head of the FBI had issued a clear order for any of your agents to shoot the man down if needed, doesn’t matter if he was alive or dead at the end of the day, so long as his body was taken to the bureau in one piece.

Shaking off the negative thoughts, you pressed down your accelerator and began speeding up to the site of interest.

Please, Juyeon, please be safe. 

The whole ride would’ve taken about ten minutes if only you weren’t preoccupied with all of the negative thoughts you were having about this current mission. You felt like it was one of the longest drives you’ve ever had to take for a stand-off mission. 

Once you arrived at the location, you immediately hopped off your vehicle and took all of your equipment with you as you rushed to the scene. Sure enough, some of your colleagues were already there in their designed spots, and some were armed with snipers to take the man down. 

What you didn’t expect was that a full shoot-out had already begun, where some of the agents were already shooting the targeted building floor where you assumed Juyeon was. You looked up, and that was where you saw your friend, armed with a gun, also shooting back at your agents. 

No freaking way. 

Juyeon would never harm a fly. He never did even all those years when he began his spree in the city. The only thing he did was take away the valued treasures and leave the scene in haste. 

So why now? Had something changed in the man after going into hiding for the past year? Why has he begun to go down the violent pathway? 

You needed answers. And you had to get to him as soon as possible. 

Trying your best to think of a way to reach him, you were turning your head back and forth from your fellow agents to Juyeon in the building. 

Come on. Think, Y/N. You have to come up with something quick. 

As you were lost in your thoughts, one of the snipers managed to aim at Juyeon’s weak spot, pulled the trigger, and within seconds you could’ve sworn you saw the bullet go straight into his right shoulder in slow-motion. Right away, your friend collapsed on the ground, and the agents wasted no time getting into the building as fast as they could.

No, I’m not letting you get caught. 

Without thinking much, you immediately removed one of the canisters from your bulletproof vest. You threw it to the ground, creating a smokescreen which could temporarily slow down the movements of your colleagues. That was when you quickly got on your feet and ran up into the building as fast as possible. 

Please, Juyeon. Bear with me. 

You could say that you were known among your colleagues to be one of the fastest agents alive because you managed to get Juyeon out from there and somehow escaped to the rooftops of one of the nearby buildings instead.

With Juyeon being wounded, it wasn’t easy having to carry him as he leaned on you while draping one of his arms over your shoulders. Not to mention you were carrying your own agent equipment simultaneously. Hence, you could say it was a miracle for you both to have gone undetected as you both made your escape. 

As you both reached your temporary safe spot, you immediately laid Juyeon down on the ground while quickly fishing out the first aid materials you had always brought along with you on every mission. Taking one of your blades from your vest, you quickly cut open the black tee that Juyeon was wearing to reveal a bloodied, wounded shoulder. The bullet was stuck pretty well within his shoulder, and since you did not have the right materials to remove it, the best you could do was somehow stop the bleeding for now and slightly help ease his pain.

As you were doing your thing, your friend decided to speak up, and god, have you missed that deep yet comforting voice that you’ve always admired and loved. 

“Y/N. You know you are potentially playing a nurse to a killer right now?” 

“Shush, Juyeon. Don’t say another word.”

He chuckled. “Y/N. You always see the good in people, even me. After all these years, where I have brought you nothing but pain.” 

As you finally wrapped the bandage around his shoulder and put a slight pressure down on the wound, you finally turned your head to face the man of your dreams. Right there and then, tears began forming in your eyes. You just wanted nothing else but to hold him in your arms, assuring him that everything was under control and it would be all okay. 

You were about to speak when he reached his hands up to your face and gently caressed your cheeks while wiping the streaming tears away with his thumb. Now, he looks at you fondly and takes in all of your features, as if he has not seen you for so long and how badly he had missed this beautiful face he always yearns for. 

“Juyeon…” You began to hold his hand on your face for dear life, not wanting to let it go anymore. 

He smiled. “I’m sure you have a whole ton of questions for me, and I’m so sorry for keeping you in the dark for years, Y/N. But I need you to know that I’m doing all this for a reason, and it all concerns my parent's murder from all those years ago.”

So it was something related to that infamous case. 

“But I can’t tell you more than that, at least for now.”  

Your shoulders slumped in defeat as you hoped he’d come clean to you right here and now. But if he had his reasons, then there was no reason for you to judge him or force him into doing something he cannot commit now. 

“It’s fine, Juyeon. What matters is that I’m glad to have reunited with you ever since that car crash from a year prior.” 

You both enjoyed that short silence between one another before you began hearing sounds that were coming in your direction, which indicated that someone was coming up to the rooftop. 

Time was up, and you had to let him go once again. 

Before that, you quickly slipped a note to your friend as you helped him sit up. “Go to this location right here and find this building hidden in the outskirts of town. You’ll find an abandoned cabin where someone will tend to your wounds and hopefully keep you safe till you can get up on your feet yourself again.” 

Just as you were about to get Juyeon up from the ground, he immediately grabbed your arms and stopped you in your tracks. “Why are you doing so much for me, Y/N? When the only thing I’ve ever brought you was trouble?” 

You gulped before finally answering him with what you have always wanted him to know. 

“Because I love you, Lee Juyeon. And I would do anything to keep you safe, even if it meant ditching my status or position to do so.” 

Immediately, you dived into his embrace and begged for one last thing you could get from him before letting him go. “Please, just hold me for a moment.” 

Sure enough, he did as you were told and returned the embrace as well. Within seconds, he broke it off, and the next thing that happened, he crashed his lips onto yours. More tears began streaming down as you eased into the kiss, wishing to savour this moment for as long as possible. 

The footsteps were now getting closer, and you knew that you could no longer hold your colleagues back anymore. Hence, the kiss was broken off, and you helped Juyeon up to his feet while helping him get to the edge of the building. You quickly strapped him up in your zipline equipment which you’d set up prior in case you both had to make a run for it. 

“Now go, Juyeon. I’ll deal with them.” 

Your friend took one last glance at you and returned one more kiss on your lips. “Thank you, Y/N. I promise you, I will write you back a letter this time. Just like how you’ve done to me for all those years.” 

Within seconds, you witnessed how Juyeon glided down into another building, and he made a run for it as best as he could. You watched as he made his way out of the building and eventually disappeared into one of the alleyways, which you knew that it leads to the outskirts of town. 

Right away, as Juyeon was out of sight, the doors to the rooftop burst open, revealing a few of your colleagues rushing to you with snipers in their hands. They were obviously shocked by the amount of blood that had gotten onto you, and you somehow convinced them that The Stealer had wounded you badly and fled the scene a long time ago. Thus, one of them escorted you down from the building while the remaining ones tried their best to catch up with the criminal's footsteps. 

Making your way out of the building, you couldn’t help but look up into the sky, praying that this whole nightmare you both have been dealing with will ultimately come to an end someday, real soon. 

“Juyeon, I’ll always love you and have your back no matter what. And I pray that the next time we meet, we will no longer be haunted by our past.” 

masterlist

taglist: @deoboyznet @kflixnet @k-films @flwoie @hokupi @zzoguri @kyusqult @tinkerbell460 @cheonsafics @sulkygyu (join my permanent taglist here!)

[perfectfangirl]

notes after rewatching fallout s1 ep1

so once again like a crazy person [i've done this with star wars sequels before] i've decided to take three and half pages of notes over the course of an hour. i've been a fan of the games for at least a decade and i'm actually always watching lore content between the installments though so while i do know some minute details, within the show, there was some things i was interested in and curious about that i just decided to jot down. some of this may be things discussed already and some of it might be something i wasn't sure if anyone brought up before but anyways! maybe i'll do the whole season, but here's my ramblings • them titling the episode "the end" was when i knew i'd love the show • ok but i really wonder if cooper can still do those party tricks? he was really good at them and lucy would probably love them too 🥺 • thinking back, the radio in the first scene mentions not knowing where the president is--- beginning to wonder if he was the guy sitting in on the vault tec meeting • just realized they introduced the mr. handy robot in some of the first scenes • ten years of nuclear threat according to anchor but the show is careful not to give away all the cards because why does the weather anchor make it seem like they know when the bomb will drop? idk but birthday boy mother turns off tv real "head in the sand" like • the nat king cole song that's playing though [wondering if the song is mirroring specifically cooper's feelings about barb despite everything hmm] • horse's name is sugarfoot 🥹 • him having to pay alimony... wonder what the prenup? was like... [still think he probably loves barb 😞]

• them calling him a pinko despite him being an architect of vault boy's persona, a quintessential presentation of a "man's man" acting as a cowboy, a real cowboy, a former marine--- wondering if there was a smear campaign after his situation with barb and vault tec, him working children's parties leads me to believe... • did the kid's say the birthday boy's name was boyd? [if so, there's another character in the games with this name and this is also the name of a character walton has played in another series, funny] • weather man show's up again distressed, wondering if we'll get more info about that day • everyone ignoring, cognitive dissonancing their own nuclear annihilation is so prescient if not disturbing and damning

• him teaching janey the thumb thing ☹️ • cooper's voice when he says "let me see if i can't rustle you up a piece" 😩 • janey being the only one to notice the first bomb • the fear in cooper's eyes • cooper being in denial one last time before realization sets in • people becoming animals the moment they realize what's happening--- one guy punches his friend not letting his family into the fallout shelter • people getting into their cars and cooper onto his horse to escape--- wonder how fast they could be since it doesn't seem you could outrun nuclear annihilation

• lucy being raised so well under the circumstances 😔 [hope she never becomes her father] • i haven't trusted steph since episode one • lucy being a teacher [amongst other things] and asking maximus about what happened after the bombs fell makes so much sense [and also much like another person suggested is an interesting juxtaposition to cooper's pre war knowledge] • lucy showing how skilled she is for being a marriage candidate when in reality we are seeing someone fit for the wasteland is crazy on second watch • is lucy not watching a cooper howard movie with her dad? hello??

• them reading "war and peace" in the family book club is rich • lucy [thinking] she's not good at guns, ironic • steph having to step in like a sisterly type because lucy's mom isn't there 😞 • the wedding dress on lucy being ill fitting, tight as symbolism for lucy not truly "fitting in there" and being constrained [foreshadowing] oof • the vault boy sign in the back saying "don't lose your head" lmao • didn't catch the "cousin stuff" until someone mentioned it on tumblr and twitter 💀

• the flashback we see of lucy ending up being almost a false memory, a misrepresentation of her actual memories, that she has been on the surface, in the sun • norm taunting lucy about her future husband being "anybody" and a "cannibal, crammed full of tumours" 😭 unfortunately for ghoulcy, this was some of the heaviest foreshadowing [the raider also could have been one too] • why didn't hank recognize moldaver? • so many things i still don't understand about vaults 31, 32, 33 • the growing realization they are raiders was pretty funny to me lmao

• moldaver having to sit through the disingenuous lies of hank ugh • norm going into vault 32 like they wanted them to know what was up? or is that just how vault doors work? they used lucy's mom's pip boy [that hank lied about burying] • lucy putting norm in a storage vault, she really is so strong • the handed down wedding dress getting messed up • i am curious if the raiders [shady sands survivors?] only mostly harmed vault tec aligners but maybe not • the way hank and steph retaliating a little too well • hank acting like he doesn't know moldaver when everyone really does know moldaver • moldaver telling lucy she looks like her mother is really such a tipoff

• realizing maximus is getting bullied 😭 • dane... might love maximus a little idk • from latrine duty to basically ruling over the brotherhood of steel • they really showed some dude jacking it lmao it's just normal i guess 💀 • maximus being defeated and having a rightful outburst of emotion, poor guy • the poster saying "the outside world can never harm you"--- funny • chet would've died up there 😭 • them not opening the vault back up for her, wondering if the vapourized bodies are from the initial bomb drop or the subsequent shady sands ones • dane almost gets maximus killed three times tbh • maximus joined the brotherhood of steel to get back at what vault tec did, essentially hank's doing, hank has many enemies • knowing the enclave, it makes sense why siggi is hunted • cooper the ghoul's introduction though • the bounty hunter saying his captors dig cooper up every once in a while to cut pieces of flesh off him 😞 no wonder cooper acts the way he does 😔 he's been taken advantage of, no wonder he doesn't trust anybody and is horrible to everyone • "why is this an amish production of "the count of monte cristo" or the weirdest circle jerk i've ever been invited to?" why would he say this 😭 • cooper's... been invited to circle jerks 👀 • does the bounty hunter know the ghoul is cooper howard?

• him not harming the chicken, him healing dogmeat, there's something there, folks • people only digging him up to use him again 😞 • what a coincidence he's dug up just as lucy leaves the vault • "i do this shit for the love of the game" he's a character, he's playing a character, real theatre kid • hence why cooper is introduced as "the ghoul", cooper is long gone • "us cowpokes, we take it as it comes" something about this lineee

[void-occupation]

hello its me- haunting your dashboard and askbox once more haha-

i saw this somewhere else but I don't remember where; what would hell's version of winter be like? I remembered your headcanon about alastor getting cold easily and I would just like to share my vision.

so hell has an extreme climate- we know that- so winter is basically Antarctica. not alastor-friendly AT ALL, it only ever happens once in a blue moon in hell so he's never really had to deal with this before. the whump possibilities are endless lmao. all-around suffering for the deer man.

do with this what you will! no pressure ofc, this is more like a concept you could make your own story or au with so i'm not sure if it counts as an ask- but do whatever you wanna, and if you did ever do a fic, (if that be a series or a one-shot) I would love to make a comic or cover as a Collab! :D

PLEASE never apologize for haunting my dash/asks, this blog is very ghost-friendly!!!!! All ghosts are allowed to haunt as they please!!

As for your beautiful vision: I love it. I will help it grow and will nourish it until it becomes a beautiful whump monster right here on my little laptop. Not sure WHEN I will make it happen, but I WILL make it happen. For now though, I will simply add to this headcanon (expect whatever I add to probably end up in the fic lol)

Winter in Hell is quite the phenomena - only occurring around once every century or so. It doesn't stick to a set schedule though (Lucifer still shudders when he remembers that time that they had five winters within the span of a single decade.) They are also completely by surprise: the most notice Hell has ever had for a winter is that the temperature dropped five degrees in one day. The next morning, sinners couldn't even open their doors the snow was piled so high. And of course, it wouldn't be Hell if the winters were the normal length, no. Winters in Hell can be anything from six months to the record of three motherfucking years. The last winter took place in the late 1910s - about a decade or so before Alastor died.

As mentioned in my previous headcanon, Alastor is a Louisiana boy. And Louisiana did not receive a SINGLE FUCKING INCH of snowfall the entire time Alastor was alive (trust me I CHECKED, that shit is WILD). That means a few things. 1.) Alastor has never seen snow in his now 120ish years of existing. 2.) Alastor has never felt anything below 50°F his entire existence. 3.) Alastor is painfully thin, which means his body has no way to preserve heat. And 4.) Alastor does not appear to have any clothing besides his three-piece suit that he wears all the time in Hell's usual blazing temperatures with seemingly no issue. Of course, this means that his suit would do nothing for him in Actual Cold Weather since he's so used to it.

With all of this knowledge, the only conclusion I can draw is that once winter actually hits, Alastor is royally FUCKED. Especially considering that a winter in Hell is compiled of all of the worst things about winter. The cold air is dry, and the wind is sharp and biting - in the way that leaves your face stinging and your hands and lips splitting. Somehow simultaneously, the snow can change between huge flakes and straight-up sleet, which if you've ever been in sleet, you know it sucks major ass.

If someone doesn't give Alastor a heated blanket He Will Die. Alastor makes the mistake of going outside exactly twice (because let's face it, I love him but this man is too prideful to accept that the weather will kill him after only one attempt - he's Just A Bit Dumb). Both times he has to be rescued by someone at the hotel after he almost fucking freezes to death like An Idiot, and he manages to also get hypothermia both times because he refuses to do anything in halves. After he also almost freezes to death in his room (which is how they find out there's a draft), he's not even allowed in there, and they move him to a guest room right next to Charlie and Vaggie's room that Lucifer added a fireplace to. He alternates between the kitchen (the oven is very warm and Food), his room (the fireplace is very warm and the bed is cozy), and the couch in the lobby (the fireplace is very warm and the couch is cozy and also Alastor is antisocially social).

He is cold. He is miserable. He is perpetually shaking like an old chihuahua. Some of the residents thought it was funny at first, but that quickly stopped after the first Almost Death. They have to watch him because Alastor becomes very despondent, and if he stops shivering, he needs to be warmed up again. Alastor is more exhausted during the winter then he has ever been in his entire existence due to all the energy his body is burning trying to stay warm. He's sleeping more than ever, but he looks absolutely terrible - eyebags so dark they look like a goth guy's eyeshadow, hair a mess, and an overall very strained look about him. He also eats a lot less, so he begins losing weight which is the exact opposite of helpful in this situation. It gets to the point where Husk is willingly braving the elements to get to the butcher shop Alastor likes just to get sinner meat so he will hopefully get something in him.

This winter is the first time any of them have ever seen him willingly snuggle up to someone, and it's fucking LUCIFER because this little bastard puts out the most heat because for some reason that it part of being a seraphim. Lucifer for his part just kinda lets it slide because Alastor would probably die if he didn't and that would make Charlie sad. Ok, and he kinda reminds Lucifer of when Charlie was little and would snuggle up to him, but that's no one's business but his own. If he's a little softer with Alastor afterwards, and less easily provoked by the sinner, that is also no one's business but his own.

hooo, I really let this one get away from me lol. Hope you enjoy this, and please feel free to haunt me as much as you want!! And when I eventually get this pushed out, it would be absolutely fantastic if you decided to make a comic/cover. I absolutely love your art

[rivetgoth]

Also, I now have a full decade of birthday selfies to create a cool timeline out of :0 I dug up some really old ones recently!!

2014 (16) and 2015 (17) . In 2014 I had JUST come out as trans within that last year or so but would’ve still been circling around a bunch of nonbinary labels and was like 99% closeted; by the end of 2016 I was fully identifying as FTM :P

The ONLY year I don’t have birthday selfies is 2016 (18). That was a really really pivotal year for me—I guess obviously, given 18 is a pretty big age—and I think I just didn’t take photos. I was working on moving out and getting my life started, I had JUST discovered industrial music, was at the very end of a toxic relationship, increasingly painfully dysphoric, and had a friend group for the first time in my life. Lots of changes and figuring things out. No pictures lol. Plus I don’t think I’d quite cemented it as a “tradition” yet.

2017 (19) and 2018 (20). You can see outright the pivotal nature of 2016 because by 2017 I’d started exploring style more (not very well at that point LOL)—I’d been growing my hair out, experimented with makeup... By 2018 I was moved out to LA and a little over a month from starting HRT. I remember really feeling like an evolution of myself had happened by 2018.

2019 (21) and 2020 (22). In 2019 I was a little under a year on T; you can’t really see a difference yet. My face shape had changed some. I also was continuing to evolve my style, and was less than a month from top surgery. In 2020 you can see a lot more had changed, though I was still only passing like half the time or so.

2021 (23) and 2022 (24). 2021 was a kinda boring year due to being in the midst of the pandemic and working a shitty job to make ends meet and dumb interpersonal stuff. My pictures from that year weren’t very interesting but I guess show to some extent that I was feeling more comfortable in my own skin and playing around with expressions and stuff. 2022 was one of the best years of my entire fucking life and my picture shows it. I was so happy that year and I think really truly felt like I was becoming myself. I love that picture of me.

2023 (25) and 2024 (26). I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to beat 2023 for best birthday photo of all time lol. 2023 was also suuuuuuch a fucking good year I was honestly kinda depressed January 2024 because it was over LMAO, and what a way to end it right. That was such a good night and felt like the culmination of so many years of my life and hardships I’d overcome and passions I’d embraced. Seeing my favorite band of all time on my birthday was insane. My friends getting me a front row spot and having members of my favorite band come out before the show to give me a donut with a candle in it and sing me happy birthday was insane. Meanwhile 2024 marks the end of a year of overcoming massive hurdles. Completing my grad program, starting my career, and publishing my first book!!!

Cheers to many more hopefully. :) 🥳🎉

[stabbyfoxandrew]

Tell me more about ur vampires Aerieee <3

like for example, do they have any defining traits (besides them teeth hah)? I noticed the two picrews have them with pointy ears, but I wasn't sure if that was a vampire thing or just them lol. or for example in a lot of media, vampires end up pale or losing their warmth/color to their skin and end up looking greyish--product of being dead I suppose.

Do they have to drink (human) blood or can they, like many others survive on animals? What happens if they don't? do they die or do they just like, dessicate and/or take a long nap lmao Do they have to eat human food too? or does it taste gross to them now?

also any other fun facts that I haven't asked lmao <3 --QD

Once again, was saving these for my birthday. :') So here I go!

Common traits: My vampires have fangs, claws, pale skin, slightly-pointed ears (the picrew exaggerates a bit). All the 'usual' vampire traits. Their fangs and claws can retract. And after they feed, they have a more lively 'glow' to their complexion. (This isn't true for Old vampires. They look pale and dead no matter what. And their fangs stop retracting eventually. This doesn't happen until they're truly ancient though and most vampires don't live that long.)

What they drink: They can drink from humans or animals! Either will sustain them but they might have to feed more often if living on animals alone. Human blood tastes better, but is (understandably) hard for some to obtain. Animal blood isn't the tastiest but it gets the job done without ending a human life. Rayne feeds on animals, drinking rats when he's in the city and drinking deer or foxes if he's near a forest. (He usually tries to leave the woodland creatures alive, but the goddamn rats... Well, he thinks he's doing the city a favor.)

If they stop feeding: A vampire can decide to essentially just go take a really long nap until someone (who they've instructed) wakes them up. Otherwise, if a vampire just stops drinking blood they'll slowly lose their mind and eventually die. Like, if you're 'resting' you don't need to eat. But a vampire who is moving must. (I hope that makes sense?)

Eating human food: Some do, some don't. It depends on the individual (and also age). Rayne loves food, so he eats. Laurent would sometimes, but it usually didn't taste that good anymore. Perhaps because he's accustomed to his liquid diet or because he's older and doesn't feel that sort of hunger anymore.

Fun facts: ♦ Vampires are strongest under a new moon, the opposite of werewolves. ♦ If they're an adult when changed, they stop aging. (Though their hair and nails still grow.) If they're bitten as a child, they grow into their fangs later on. ♦ A vampire's bond with their maker is hard to break, but not impossible. ♦ Vampires drinking each other's blood strengthens the bond between them and allows them to speak telepathically to one another. (This power fades if they stop drinking from each other.) ♦ Vampires can stand in the sun. It is unpleasant, but doesn't burn them to ash instantly. (Older vampires might be an exception...) ♦ Vampires have laws, set by the vamp monarchy. They're more like guidelines. Most people do not follow them. ♦ If a vampire betrays their maker or their coven, one of their fangs is snapped out as a warning. They do not grow back. And there's (basically a) slur for one-fanged vamps. It's very hard for them to make new friends. ♦ Vampires typically get the powers of the one who sired them. (And of any vampires they kill.) ♦ There aren't that many vampires, until the king fucks off and shit starts going crazy. Then their numbers triple within a decade.

I'll stop here before I lose my mind. But I love you Allie, thank you for indulging me! <3333

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Wait I thought of something for the commentary meme. I want to know about the baghralina backstory for the roleswap fic! Who broke up with who, and why? Was Alina deliberately getting back at Baghra with banging Aleksander or was that just a delightful bonus? Etc

Re: this fic!

So for context this is what Alina tells Aleksander about the amplifiers and knowing Ilya. Basically, she met Baghra at the same point and just conveniently left that out I think she probably met Baghra first— who in this AU would've been around the same age, therefore young, impressionable, and lonely at that time— while Mal's still alive and they're both on the run. Alina confesses to her some of what's happened. They bond a bit, Baghra lets slip who her father is, and that he’s something of a miracle worker even for Grisha. But beyond some #vibes, that’s the end of that

Time skip, Mal dies. Alina comes back to beg Ilya Morozova for help, and is like, I’m a friend of your daughter’s. (Ilya is like. I have a daughter? she has friends?)

He is intrigued by her sob story, and more specifically her power being anomalous, and he offers to help in what ways he can. (I think it looks like their interests are aligned for a bit because his experiments, leading up to making the big three amplifiers, apparently do involve resurrection) Alina stays with them for some time. This is where there’s a burgeoning romance between her and Baghra. I think it’s a bit more intense on Baghra’s part, frankly, Alina is kind of on the rebound here

I don’t think it would have ever gotten to like admittance of feelings, but they’re probably like sneaking off into the woods to make out

Things sour when Ilya gives her an amplifier instead of actually resurrecting Mal. Alina takes it as an insult and steals his research, this pretty much results in the end of any relationship with Baghra too. And Baghra herself is ostracized even more within her own family because she introduced Alina to them, who stole all their stuff and probably like sunbeam torched their floor rushes or whatever lmao.

I think some decades later they have a chilly reunion somewhere in like Os Kervo or something after Alina’s already established herself as a saint and Baghra’s set in her transient lifestyle. That definitely results in a resentful hook up. Alina makes a cursory pillow talk effort at real reconciliation, and offers to take her back to the Little Palace. Life is so much easier there. But she probably also lets slip that crossing the Scorched Sea would be easier and Baghra is Very averse to the idea of being used by Alina again— which is 100% how she views how things went down before. So she basically just bails before morning without a word while Alina’s sleeping lol

So you could say Alina broke up with her? But Baghra refused to like mend things. They both mutually view the other as an untrustworthy cold hearted bitch.

Anyway also this bit:

Baghra is definitely projecting here. The way she makes this entirely about Alina— her ex!! When really Aleksander is mostly attracted to the concept of like stability, wealth, and plenty. He does have preconceived notions about Alina, and is more susceptible to her because Baghra offers so little in the way of like emotional support or kindness. Like there is very much a hole in his life he's quietly hoping Alina will fill, but that's a little to the left of what Baghra's saying. She's more just telling on herself here and how she was feeling about Alina when she was very, very young

Re: Aleksander, I don’t think Alina is hooking up with him particularly to spite Baghra, but she’s power tripping on it a little bit. Like it’s less about Baghra’s reaction or her ever knowing rather than the principle of the thing

She does enjoy twisting the knife though, and definitely has a cruel streak (see: how she handles Nikolai when Aleksander shows up and becomes her new favorite) so once Baghra shows up to try to warn Aleksander away, she particularly enjoys being the one to separate her from her son, and keeping him entirely under her thumb

But honestly her primary motivation is just that like… he’s clearly super into her and it’s an easy way to manipulate him. Also she’s just bored and he’s the shiny new thing

[festivalofthe12]

SO this is probably something covered in the manga which I have since entirely forgotten, but. The Juunishi thing is reincarnation, right? As in, whenever the old Horse or Dog or whatever dies, they're soon/immediately after reborn as another new Sohma family baby?

Obviously there are metatextual reasons why the main characters are mostly grouped around the same rough generational range... but if you think of it that way, it makes more sense: in modern days, there's not that much variation in how old people get before they die, so it kinda makes sense that they tend to die and therefore be reborn at within a couple of decades of one another? maybe????? (of course this has been going on for a Long Time and stuff like infant mortality or just death at a young age due to injury/illness used to be much more common but. ignore that. maybe.)

ANYWAY my point is. Could Sohma adults potentially try to game the system and time it such that their kids will be born around about when older Juunishi members die? Thus giving themselves a way better chance of having their kid be one? (For those who would care about that, which we know at least some do.)

Specifically, I'm not sure if we ever got a stated reason for the huge age gap between Yuki and Ayame... but this sure as hell sounds like a plausible one, giving everything we know about Yuki's mum. Like, IDK if she deliberately tried to get the Snake (the Snake, Dog, and Dragon are all very similar in age, so presuming that their previous reincarnations' deaths weren't super sudden, that'd offer better than usual odds of getting at least one) and then realised she could do better, or if she got the Snake but wasn't satisfied and started planning things out for the Big One...

Though. the Rat would most DEFINITELY have been a high risk/high reward goal. Because. This time around, at the very least, the Rat and Cat both ended up the same age. :'D

Which, now that sounds like a fanfic idea just waiting to happen... but in practice, IDK if it would've really changed all THAT much? Yuki's mum would almost certainly have just disowned Kyou lmfao (possibly while trying to hide that he was even hers so she wouldn't be associated with the Cat??? no clue how she'd manage that though. I feel like the two options are some other random woman gets him and immediately the curse is revealed [and the main house would find out about that, ofc] or Kyou fjucking dies. I guess she could try to pass him off on a single father????????)

anyway uhh I know less about Kyou's parents. but. his dad doesn't seem the type to NOT send his kid off to Akito, especially if there was something in it for him.

So if this isn't that wacked-out 'the Cat gets weirdly lost for a while because he grows up with a random dude who doesn't even figure out about the curse for several years making it way harder for the Main House to track him (and honestly given that the juunishi transform when they're too weak and babies are Definitionally Defenceless even this doesn't seem all that realistic)' scenario. I guess the main difference would be just that Kyou and Ayame are siblings. Presumably in this case Kyou still gets raised by Kazuma and everyone knows his mum is his mum but she maintains some level of status by having the Snake. And I guess in this world Ayame gets treated more like Yuki because she doesn't have a better option this time round and is desperate to distance herself from the Cat lmao.

That's about as far as I've thought it through hahahaha because in the end this is more of a Kyou-centric thought experiment than Yuki really. But it's still kinda interesting (to me)!!!!!